Just by owning a DSLR camera or having access to renting one that's affordable, you can charge friends and local professionals for new headshots, which can be a very effective side business. Many successful photographers started out by shooting on the side and building up their portfolio of work, thereby establishing a local reputation enabling a launch of their own photography business.

“A Side Hustle isn’t about making a few extra bucks selling lemonade to your neighbors. Chris Guillebeau has created a step-by-step methodology for imagining, building, and launching side projects that can earn real, serious cash. In my years investing on Shark Tank, I’ve seen firsthand how side hustles can take off and grow into some major profits. Whether you want to supplement your pay check, or jumpstart a full-fledged business, Guillebeau will show you how to get your hustle going in just 27 days flat.” - Daymond John, star of ABC’s Emmy Award winning business show Shark Tank
Wedding photographers command premium rates. After all, you are capturing one of a couple's most important life moments, making it a very lucrative side business idea. Many professional wedding photographers charge between $2,500 - $10,000 (or more) to shoot a wedding, so it's realistic that this side business idea could quickly blossom into becoming a full-time endeavor with the right happy clientele base that's willing to refer you to their friends and family. Check out the Complete Wedding Photography Experience over on CreativeLive to get up to speed on everything you need to launch a successful wedding photography business.
When your readers click on a link, they will be directed to the company’s site, and you will earn a commission either from the traffic you direct, or from a purchase they make on the site. Besides links, you can also put visual ads for the company in the sidebar of your page. Your job is just to continue producing original, relevant content, and you will be able to gradually establish a profitable side business.

Whoa. Epic list! I love the Chick-fil-a cow mascot :) Makes me think of all the side hustles I’ve had… my favorite was when I used to introduce myself as a commissioned painter and ended up closing a few deals that way. When I got to the point where I was painting portraits of people’s dogs that had passed away, I realized that I no longer enjoyed what I did :P

48 Wedding/social photographer You'll need a website or blog to showcase your work, but if you're confident that your photography is good enough, there's no reason why you can't do wedding/function work professionally. Do your homework though – you'll need to take charge of arranging people into groups and know all the classic poses expected of the occasion.
Anyone who is artistically inclined and enjoys animals may like running a pet portraits business. For those who like to draw, paint, or work with another medium, doing commissioned portraits is a great way to earn an income creating art. Loving animals helps business owners stay interested in their work even when they’re working on animal portraits several days in a row.

Software drives businesses today. This is a fact not lost on individuals and companies attempting to earn a profit, make a name for themselves, or simply get things done. As a result, the job outlook for software developers will be much sunnier than prospects for many other occupations—creating massive opportunities for this business idea well into the future. In fact, it won’t take you long to find a good-paying software development project as a side business idea on sites like Upwork, Guru.com, and Freelancer. LinkedIn also recently launched their brand new freelancing platform, ProFinder which has a dedicated section just for hiring talented software developers.

Crafts are a great way for parents to entertain their children and encourage them to be creative, but it’s not always easy to come up with new projects in the moment. Selling templates of images that children can trace or attempt to draw on their own can be a fun side business and a popular product. You can put together themed template-books, along with guides that teach children how to make various types of crafts.

Hello and thank you for the great article. I have been reading where you can use side hustles to contribute to self-managed retirement plans (aka Self 401k). Many of these gigs seem cash based – anyone out there contributing to their own Self 401k/Sep/Easy accounts? If so, what documentation is required to support the connections between the side hustle and the contributions to the self managed retirement plan?

As a freelance writer, you are largely in control of the amount of work you do and the time you put into writing. Whether you use an online writer platform or another system for getting clients, you have a say in the number of pieces that you do, and, as long as you meet any deadlines set for you, you can work on these pieces whenever you have time. Therefore, it is easy to successfully manage a freelance writing business on the side of whatever else you spend time doing.
A feasible idea is one you can start very soon, and that will earn you money in a short period of time. If it is a grand idea that will require great dedication, significant capital, it is not a side hustle. It is useful to see the hustle as much like a hobby, but with one huge difference. Most hobbies cost money, but your side hustle makes money. If you would have difficulty explaining the idea in a sentence or two, you should rethink the idea.
I surprisingly get a lot of people asking to detail their car. I never intend to make a business of it, but I love doing it to my cars and people ask me to do it to theirs. All it takes is a cheap orbital buffer (mines a used craftsman) and a shop vac. I normally get easily $100 for a basic wash/wax/vac, or $200 to remove scratches and polish then wax the car.